CounterCulture:About
Welcome to the Counterculture Wikia -- but what does that mean? It's a wide term, so let's try to be be clear from the outset. Mission Statement Our wiki is about the Counterculture of today and through history. Our realm covers centuries, decades, years, days and fleeting moments. Great social movements, inspiring men and women, and partly baked ideas. (But we won't cover non-informative articles -- and articles such as those on bands and their gigs shouldn't be placed here unless clearly appropriate to our themes.) Still, be assured that we take a wide view, that's why the person in our logo is Gerrard Winstanley (1609 - 1676), with a hippie flower in his hair (or is that a hat?). He was counter-cultural, radical and very influential. Had he lived in the 1960s, he might have been at Woodstock or a Martin Luther King rally. In the 1970s, he might have picketed the Oz Magazine Trial or attended a ConFest. In the 21st Century, he might have been arrested at a demonstration opposing the International Monetary Fund, and chances are he might live in an eco-village designed with Permaculture principles. It's hoped that contributors will take the attitude that many viewpoints should not create conflict here. There is room for us all and our varying ideas and interests, so (taking a 'leaf' out of old Winstanley's hat) -- let a thousand flowers bloom! The term 'Counterculture' (that's how we spell it here for ease of linking) popularly refers to a Western movement of alternative lifestyles and dissident political thought of the late-20th Century. In sociology, 'counter culture' or 'counterculture' is a term used to describe a cultural group whose values and norms are at odds with those of the social mainstream. Although the term was specifically coined for a 1960s - 1970s Western phenomenon, this wiki takes a wide perspective because the Counterculture of that time was itself strikingly multi-faceted and had a self-identity of having strong bonds with precursor movements, and with contemporary non-Western cultures. Therefore this site is unlimited by nation or period of history. Despite our wide points of reference, however, those elements generally attributed to (and self-attributed by) the Counterculture still form our general themes. It might be said that in the 1960s there was less differentiation than later between the Counterculture's themes. Therefore, that period and those themes form our locus, notwithstanding the fact that many movements and sub-cultures (many of which, such as the Occult, and the peace movement, preceded the Counterculture) tended to split and separate. For a couple of decades at least, the Counterculture conceived itself, and was conceived by society, to include very many sub-cultures, tendencies and themes. These included, but were not limited to, alternative lifestyles, hippies, the New Age, Nature-based spirituality, mysticism, radicalism, activism, the peace movement, intentional communities, environmentalism, use of entheogens, and experimental and progressive culture in general. Then came punks, goths and so on, and on. New tendencies of the Counterculture keep emerging, and they are welcome here. Therefore, this wiki exists to discover (through time and space) themes, tendencies, connections and sources of the Counterculture as it is generally understood. Our birthday The proposal for CounterCulture Wikia was acepted by Wikia admins in late-2005. In early 2006, before the sysop (administrator) was able to establish the Main Page and this "About" page, some welcome and enthusiastic folks did the right thing and started posting a few articles anyway. Then all was quiet. Your sysop had been indisposed for a few months, then finally sprang into action and set up the wiki on April 1, 2006. So, appropriately, the official birthday of our wiki is April Fools' Day! Hyperlinking Please use the tutorial so hyperlinking is done well. And don't over-link. Just because an article mentions bananas, Berlin, automobile, Abraham Lincoln, or September 7, 1938, there's not much point in hyperlinking those terms. This isn't Wikipedia and we can't have an article on everything. When in doubt, don't -- it will get done in time if it's useful. But use your discretion to add, change or remove your own or other people's hyperlinks. You're trusted, and you can't break anything that can't be fixed. If you need technical help Use the links on the Main Page, such as Support, Tutorials, and so on, then you can access the whole wiki community for help. Or you can ask questions on the Discussion page attached to each article page. Try as little as possible to refer Support questions to the administrator, Alpheus, thanks -- others are far smarter with wiki "nuts and bolts". I find it hard to do Pez. The two easiest ways to start an article 1) When you see a red link, click on it and start writing. Then save it. Voila! 2) In the wiki search box, type the word/s or name you want to write about. Be certain you have the correct spelling before you do so. If it returns a red link (which means that article doesn't exist yet), click the red link and start writing. Then save it. Voila! Use of material from other wikis (eg Wikipedia, Wikisource) We can use material from Wikipedia, Wikisource and so on -- anything covered by "copyleft" terms such as GNU Free Documentation License. It's a great idea to do so if you are sure you aren't breaking any copyright terms. Of course, we are building our own wiki here so let's not copy more heavily than necessary. Such sources are excellent for "seeding" a page to be built upon by our own regulars and visitors. We can edit such copyleft articles here; they don't have to remain as they were on Wikipedia etc. In such cases, use an attribution tag such as this (modify links as necessary): You can use such templates available at http://www.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_shared_templates. Alpheus 02:13, 8 April 2006 (PDT)